Nay.
She tried to swallow the panic rising in her throat.
For the first time since she had arrived eleven hundred years in the past, Ailith wondered if she was truly alone, that William and the rest of her family had turned their backs to her.
She couldn’t bring herself to believe that.William would not betray her in such a way.
A hiccough caught in her chest.
Would he?
Teagan waited until Ailith rode beyond the tree line before heading inside her small house.The tiny house seemed much larger and more lonely now that Ailith was gone.The bright red lass brought a personality and light to Teagan’s home that she had not thought possible.
Loneliness didn’t plague Teagan often, but as of late, it had.It was as though Ailith’s recent entry into her life made her realize how much of a hermit she had been.She had done it to protect herself, aye – look what happened when she overstepped with the Keiths!– but now, all it did was make her seem more peculiar to those in Mowtie and Stonehaven.Many of the villagers were kind.Perhaps she should have tried to be a bit more sociable.
Their poultice-making items littered the top of her table, including her pestle, someuisge-beatha– the next best thing to an antiseptic that she had found in 900 CE – a few leaves, other herbs, and a pot to keep their new poultice in.They had put it on both Ailith’s cuts and one of Teagan’s.Even if it didn’t do much, it was cool and soothing to the wounds, so it might have a palliative, if placebo, effect.
She had set her wares on a shelf and pushed in the stool where Ailith had been sitting when she noticed the satchel on the floor.
Oh no!Ailith left it behind!
Teagan didn’t know whether she needed it or not, but to Ailith, these mushrooms meant everything.She couldn’t have gone too far.Maybe if Teagan ran and yelled out, Ailith would turn around and retrieve it.
Snatching the satchel strap, Teagan raced outside and down the pathway.Her heart pounded in her chest as she pumped her feet.How far could Ailith have gone already?
The white palfrey was a flash through the trees, and Teagan opened her mouth to shout for Ailith when a screech cut through the air.
Teagan froze in the misty rain, which had intensified as she ran.When she reached the bend, in the dim light, she saw more horses and men surrounding Ailith.
Surprise and caution rendered her immobile.
Should she rush in and see what was going on?Or wait and see what happened next?What if they took Ailith?What might Teagan do if she were taken along with her?
Then Ailith called out a name she had mentioned before.Eoghan.Ailith yelled at him, asking him why he was doing this.
Teagan was not familiar with this Eoghan person, but from the sounds of it, Ailith was familiar with him.And if Ailith was, then so was William.
She shifted so she remained hidden by a stout oak and waited to see what these men would do with Ailith.More words that Teagan couldn’t make out, then Ailith was on the other man’s horse, her hands tied, and they were riding off with her.
Oh no.
Teagan swallowed the lump in her throat.Kin at the Grants might try to stop Eoghan and ride for Drumoak.Only, if anyone rode for the MacDougals to find William, they would encounter a problem.William wasn’t at Drumoak.
In fact, Teagan choked on her realization that, at this moment, she was the only person who knew where both Ailith and William were.
Eoghan and his men did not appear the patient type.If she waited for someone to ride to the MacDougals, then ride for Blair Keep farther east, Ailith would never make it.
Because Teagan knew why they were abducting Ailith.
It was the same reason men had arrested Teagan.
They were going to accuse her of something dire, probably witchcraft.
Only Ailith didn’t have anyone to stand with a staff and a knife to fight for her innocence.
Teagan groaned and waited behind the oak, pressing her fingertips into the damp bark as she considered her options.
Once the horses were gone, Teagan picked her way through the trees to where Ailith’s palfrey pawed at the ground and skittered sideways at Teagan’s appearance.The horse shook its pale white mane and snickered at her.The reins fell by the horses’ neck.Teagan made gentle clicking sounds with her tongue and managed to grasp the reins.
